Deliverance
by Philotas
Summary: The last moments in the life of RG Veda's seer, Kuyo... Read the author's note before you proceed, and please R/R!


Disclaimer: I don't own RG Veda, yadda yadda, you already guessed that, didn't you? Good, so don't sue!  
  
Warnings: Like my previous fic, I don't think this one can be understood without reading all RG Veda, and it does contain spoilers for the series!  
  
Rating: PG, I guess. It's nothing graphic, but it does contain character's death, and maybe a cuss word or two, so…  
  
Author's Note: This is a vignette set in the beginning of the comic series, right before Yasha-ou comes back from the forest of Maya and finds Kuyo dead. I came up with this fic after asking myself the following question "If Kuyo does indeed know the true meaning of the prophecy, why does she go along with Ashura-ou's wish and tells Yasha-ou about Ashura's location, even if she knows the awakening of the child will bring about the end of the world?" Since CLAMP give no indication if Ashura-ou told her about his plans – and I don't think he did – I came up with my own idea why she was willing to sacrifice the world. I never did and never will like Kuyo, so don't expect nothing noble… Quite the opposite, actually, though in the end I didn't treat her half as bad as I was planning to. One more thing. I know kujaku tells Yasha-ou it was Bishamonten to kill Kuyo, but I ignored that fact, or rather… I pretended Kujaku arrived a bit after Kuyo's death and missed seeing who really killed her...  
  
DELIVERANCE  
  
by Philotas Parmeneides  
  
It was eternity until she resurfaced from the tide of memories. She remembered him so well from her younger years, when she could still see. The slight curve of the lips, not exactly a smile, the unreadable spark in the golden eyes, the silky obsidian of his hair, the translucent look of the velvety, fair skin, the rich sound of his rare and precious laughter... Ashura-ou... Three hundred years after his death, her love had not faded. In three centuries of loneliness in the water pit prison, she had had nothing but her memories to keep her company. But now she had fulfilled her vow, she had delivered the prophecy to Yasha-ou, and she was free to go. Free to...  
  
She was roused from her thoughts by the sound of steps approaching. Could it be that so much time had passed? Yasha-ou had already... Soon she understood her self-deception. She knew the approaching steps all too well. She had heard them for three hundred years, when her usual visitor came and went from the water prison.  
  
"Taishakuten" she whispered, turning her blind eyes up.  
  
"Hails to you, seer" the mocking voice greeted her. He bent on his knees so that they were almost nose to nose. "I have come to visit you once more... I am sure you know this is the last time."  
  
"Taishakuten, be damned..."  
  
"I am already, my darling, so don't waste your breath."  
  
Taishakuten looked at the woman, unsure if spite or pity was the strongest feeling in him as he watched her frail form shrink away from him. She thought she knew it all, the poor thing. She believed the future was entrusted all to her. She was sure that, Shashi or not, it was her Ashura- ou loved... The emperor's reaction to that thought was a very human one. Jealousy. Only the proportions of the resulting rage were off scale, but still he managed to keep his façade cold. It didn't matter what he thought of her. She had to go. In her blindness, which reached far beyond the physical level, she would do anything to make the prophecy come true. He leaned in closer and started talking in a soft, poisonous voice.  
  
"You know, I could spare you. Really, it's not like you are a threat to me. I can read you like an open book. You believe fate cannot be changed. Not because you are a prophetess, oh no. It's because you don't want fate to change. For this reason you revealed the prophecy to Yasha-ou, not even caring that your friend is supposedly destined to get killed."  
  
"How do you know these things?" she enquired. Taishakuten was not supposed to know anything about the prophecy of the Six Stars but the mere original wording. He should have had no idea of Yasha-ou's destiny.  
  
"You'll know that in time, my darling. First, I want to let you see how bare your soul is for before my eyes. I know you want to see me dead. I killed Ashura-ou, and for that reason you want me to die, slowly and painfully."  
  
"Stop!"  
  
"Oh, I'm just getting started, dear. I was just saying that you want me dead, dead at all costs, even the shattering of all Ashura-ou's hopes for his son's future, even the end in blood and fire of all Tenkai. You know the true meaning of the prophecy, and you are still wishing it becomes true so that you can see my guts hung out to dry. So much for the sweet, docile seer Kuyo, huh?"  
  
By the time he had finished, she was out of her mind, tearing at him with her fingers, pounding his chest with clenched fists.  
  
"Stop this! It's not true! You know nothing of..."  
  
"You know nothing!" Taishakuten growled, shoving her backwards. "But you are going to know it all, I will make you see, and I am going to enjoy every moment of your agony!"  
  
As he said so, he raised his right hand and touched her forehead lightly with his long, clawed fingers. The telepathic contact was established as easily as that. Ashura-ou's illusion power, which Taishakuten now possessed, made it possible and easy.  
  
Images flashed through Kuyo's mind. Scenes of death, of battle, and then... the promise. While her soul cried in agony, shattering into pieces, she witnessed the secret exchange of vows, the plans, the nights together... and, in the end, she saw Ashura-ou, the almighty, the strongest, her beloved Ashura-ou, in his last surrender.  
  
"Make me yours... completely."  
  
She saw the golden eyes, full of torment, yes, but affection and trust as well – not for her, never for her – go blank. Mercifully, so did her mind.  
  
When Kuyo came to her senses, she fervently hoped she had not survived the blow in her heart. Ashura-ou... and Taishakuten? It wasn't true… was it? Ashura-ou had chosen Taishakuten as his lover, his friend, his partner in sin. There was nothing left for her. Not even her hate for the emperor. She felt empty, hollow inside. Even tears refused to fall. She existed. Life was nothing but a memory of centuries past. The irony of it all, she could see now, perfectly, as her eyes had always worked fine. In that moment she knew her powers were gone too. There was really nothing left of the seer Kuyo.  
  
Taishakuten was leaning over her, his face a curious mixture between tenderness and anger. She had never imagined, listening to his usual cold, controlled, ironical voice, that his face could be so expressive. When he saw her awake, he looked away. Sitting back on his heels, he looked incredibly sad and tired.  
  
"Don't feel bad about it" he said softly.  
  
"W... what?" she asked, bewildered. The man standing in front of her was very different from the Taishakuten everybody knew and more or less detested or feared.  
  
"Don't feel bad about what you did not know" he repeated slowly. "It's not as important as it seems. I took a vengeance on you because… he cared for you. You see, he cared enough that he chose to protect you from the truth. He would have hated to see you carry the burden of it, even for a single moment. He didn't want to make you his accomplice in crime, and thus sentence you to eternal damnation. I wish I could say the same for myself. But he did not care for me. He used me, plain and simple. Don't get me wrong… I knew the price I was going to pay, when I asked him to be my lover. What more could I obtain for bribing him with my promises? But I wouldn't have it any other way because, you see, that was the only way for me… I am glad to do whatever I can to protect his dreams. I am just bitter I never managed to touch his heart, to inspire tenderness in him like you do. Whatever I did was never enough… but it's not your fault. I was jealous of you, and I wanted to get even. Childish, huh?"  
  
The silver eyes that turned on her were tinged of a warm, melancholic light. She felt a sudden surge of sympathy. They had definitely one thing in common. The purpose of their lives for the past three hundred years.  
  
"Taishakuten, you..." she started, rising a hand to touch his cheek.  
  
"Spare me your pity, woman" he snapped, drawing back, his cold and cruel mask falling back into place. He had to do what he had to do. Going soft on her wasn't going to help. It wasn't like she had anything to live for anymore. She had fulfilled her vow to Ashura-ou, and she was ready to go, to be delivered from the pain her existence was. Wishing once more he could say the same for himself, he got up and dragged her to her feet. As he did so, he grabbed her staff and ran her through with the pointed end of it.  
  
Kuyo fell back with a soft whimper, but a sweet smile was on her face even as blood started dripping from her lips. Hoping for fate to be changed was a sin in itself. So she would die in sin, but the thought was simply too beautiful to let it go. It was the only light in the darkness awaiting the world. She could almost see Ashura-ou smile.  
  
"Thank you" she whispered with her last breath, then fell silent never to speak again.  
  
Taishakuten pinned the limp body against the wall with the staff, putting up the dramatic death scene Yasha-ou would find upon his return from the forest of Maya, then turned to leave. Just before going out in the open again, he looked back. A sense of emptiness took over his heart, as his fingertips brushed his forehead slightly. The last one he shared something with was gone. The wheel of fate was turning. His time of watch was almost over, and the most difficult part was coming. His deliverance was not going to be as easy as the seer's.  
  
He was not surprised to find Bishamonten outside, approaching the building while his troops stood still a distance away. His vassal stared at him questioningly. Taishakuten smiled obliquely at him.  
  
"I took care of things personally, since Yasha-ou didn't see fit to obey my orders. Would you mind informing him and his people about my… displeasure?"  
  
"Not at all, your Highness" came the unsurprising reply.  
  
"I'll be at Zemni-jou waiting for the good news, then" he stated, taking his leave.  
  
End. 


End file.
